I am a graduate of Bangor University in BSc Hons Environmental Conservation. After graduating, I was fortunate enough to volunteer with the Natural Resources Wales staff at ECN Snowdon team on a regular, weekly basis. I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this incredible experience and have learned so much more than I expected, from the wide range of fieldwork sampling to the laboratory skills and practices. It has allowed me to work with extremely knowledgeable and welcoming people, who have helped me and continue to support me in my professional development. This role has further fuelled my keen interest in climate change, and the effects it has on biodiversity. I have helped assist in particular sampling techniques, which has allowed me to see first-hand some of the impacts climate change is having on the ecosystem.
I have now been involved with ECN for 10 months, and particularly enjoy the different challenges it brings, working in difficult weather conditions and over a range of seasons. When I started volunteering in November 2014, I quickly became involved in the many and varied fieldwork sampling methods, learning
More recently in the summer season, I have helped to conduct butterfly transects, recording all sightings on behalf of the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. I have also collected samples from frog ponds in order to monitor the time length of metamorphosis and tadpole development, and recorded numbers and locations of mountain goats and sheep on the hillsides.new skills such as recording climatic data from the weather station and understanding how to use the equipment, e.g. collecting soil waters using soil solution lysimeters. I was also introduced to the different cloud types using the cloud classifications identification guide. As the conditions on the sample site of Snowdon are conducive for fungi to grow, I took part in fungi counts, learning names of all the species present on Snowdon.